Steve Jobs in motion: five videos to watch this weekend

On the anniversary of Jobs' death, old videos provide laughs and inspiration.

Apple cofounder and former CEO Steve Jobs passed away one year ago. Apple has posted a tribute to Jobs on its home page, which contains a video montage of some of Jobs' more memorable moments in addition to a letter from current CEO Tim Cook. But there are plenty of other Jobs videos out there that inspire head-scratches, laughs, introspection, or all of the above. Here, we put together five Steve Jobs videos to check out that highlight different parts of his personality.

1984 Ghostbusters parody

Blue Busters

This video was produced internally by Apple to be shown during a staff meeting in 1984. Jobs and a number of other Apple employees (including Steve Wozniak) participated in the parody. The video largely targets "Big Blue," or IBM, which was Apple's main focus back in the early 1980s. This one is amusing just for the sheer absurdity of the video, but it shows how cavalier and ambitious Apple's culture was in the early days.

Jobs as Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Jobs as FDR

Also shown at the same 1984 staff meeting was a video portraying Jobs as FDR. Michael Markman posted an account on his blog earlier this year about how this video came about, but it was apparently no problem to convince Jobs to play the part. There are more details about the video's history at NetworkWorld as well.

That famous commencement speech

Jobs speaking at Stanford University

In 2005, Jobs was asked to give the commencement address at Stanford University. But this wasn't just any commencement address—Jobs had just begun being open about his cancer treatments and decided to share some hard life lessons he had learned since being diagnosed. This may seem like a well-known video, but there are still many current Apple-watchers who have yet to see it. Whether you "like" Jobs or not, the wisdom he passes on to Stanford grads is insightful and worth taking to heart.

Steve Jobs announces the original iPhone

Original iPhone introduction in 2007

It's an iPod. It's a phone. It's an Internet communicator. Are you getting it!?

The day Jobs introduced the first iPhone to the public back in 2007 was one that we'll continue to look back on for years to come. As we wrote in our five-year anniversary piece about the iPhone earlier this year, smartphones at the time were vastly different than they are today, and mostly limited to business users. The introduction was amusing, too—as someone sitting in the audience at that time, I remember the crowd become more excited at every turn of the cube until it became clear that Jobs was talking about one device. If you want to be reminded of the iPhone's legacy, this one is worth checking out.

Keynote bloopers

Apple keynote bloopers

Remember the time Jobs threw a camera across the stage? Or the time he couldn't get OS X Dashboard widgets to load over the Moscone Center's Internet connection? There were plenty of "blooper" style scenarios in keynotes from the days of yore, and sometimes it's fun to remind ourselves that even Apple can't control everything.

Jacqui Cheng
Jacqui is an Editor at Large at Ars Technica, where she has spent the last eight years writing about Apple culture, gadgets, social networking, privacy, and more. Emailjacqui@arstechnica.com//Twitter@eJacqui

Jobs announces he found a bug, the crowd laughs.Jobs switches to a backup system because the primary one doesn't "just work", the crowd _cheers_!Jobs announces something he said last year was wrong, the crowd laughs.Jobs has to ask questions about something that is supposed to "just work", and the crowd laughs.

Steve Jobs says pretty much anything he wants, the crowd laughs with him or cheers. Reminds me of political party conventions: fill the audience with people who agree with you unconditionally, and you'll both look and feel good not matter what you say and do on stage.

Jobs announces he found a bug, the crowd laughs.Jobs switches to a backup system because the primary one doesn't "just work", the crowd _cheers_!Jobs announces something he said last year was wrong, the crowd laughs.Jobs has to ask questions about something that is supposed to "just work", and the crowd laughs.

Steve Jobs says pretty much anything he wants, the crowd laughs with him or cheers. Reminds me of political party conventions: fill the audience with people who agree with you unconditionally, and you'll both look and feel good not matter what you say and do on stage.

What do you want them to do?

Boo, Rampage up there, drag him off and burn him at the stake?

Its nothing to do with any so called reality distortion field, you can watch the same bloopers elsewhere and see the same reaction.

Whether you hate Apple/Jobs or not, you have to agree he has achieved something spectacular. Especially for about the last 5-6 years, at least in my experience, the world has gone from "Your PC is weird. Is it one of those Mac PCs?" to "My phone is dead. Do you know anyone who DOESN'T have an iPhone?".

If you don't have respect for Jobs, I'm sad to say it, but it's not him, it's you...

Whether you hate Apple/Jobs or not, you have to agree he has achieved something spectacular. Especially for about the last 5-6 years, at least in my experience, the world has gone from "Your PC is weird. Is it one of those Mac PCs?" to "My phone is dead. Do you know anyone who DOESN'T have an iPhone?".

If you don't have respect for Jobs, I'm sad to say it, but it's not him, it's you...

No, I don't "have to agree" with anything you have expressed above. This is not a debate over some factual piece of knowledge that has been scientifically tested. This is not an argument that the earth is 6000 years old when clearly the TRUTH is that it is much older.

This is an argument over whether or not a computer magnate's legacy should be influenced by his questionable business practices and personality towards his employees and customers. One can make a compelling argument for both sides, but there is NO WAY that I should be compelled to believe what you believe.

Jobs announces he found a bug, the crowd laughs.Jobs switches to a backup system because the primary one doesn't "just work", the crowd _cheers_!Jobs announces something he said last year was wrong, the crowd laughs.Jobs has to ask questions about something that is supposed to "just work", and the crowd laughs.

Steve Jobs says pretty much anything he wants, the crowd laughs with him or cheers. Reminds me of political party conventions: fill the audience with people who agree with you unconditionally, and you'll both look and feel good not matter what you say and do on stage.

Ironic statements (verbal irony)[2] are statements that imply a meaning in opposition to their literal meaning. A situation is often said to be ironic (situational irony) if there is an "incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result."

...but there is NO WAY that I should be compelled to believe what you believe.

There is no way you should believe Jobs has done something spectacular? I'd say going from being a college drop-out to an Apple CEO is quite impressive, but apparently I'm wrong? I don't know how my post stated any opinion at all in regards to his business practice, but at least you got to rant a bit. Your welcome.

...but there is NO WAY that I should be compelled to believe what you believe.

There is no way you should believe Jobs has done something spectacular? I'd say going from being a college drop-out to an Apple CEO is quite impressive, but apparently I'm wrong? I don't know how my post stated any opinion at all in regards to his business practice, but at least you got to rant a bit. Your welcome.

Keep misreading what I'm saying Captain Reading Comprehension. I said that I shouldn't be forced to believe that what Steve Jobs has done is good, as if it were some sort of scientific fact. As a matter of opinion, it is up for debate. Of course, religious zealots take such pride in claiming that their opinions are facts, although I'm sure you're aware of that nifty little comparison.

I had a lot of respect for Apple right up to the time they started producing a closed ecosystem. Even starting as far back as the iPod, they started building their walled garden. I used to use gtk-pod to load music on my iPod in Linux. Apple used to put out updates that would slightly change the database on the iPod. Not anything of significance, just rearrange things a bit. Just enough to break all previous versions of the software. Hence, my next device was something that acted like a regular USB drive.

Contrary to the claims that Apple has never given two shits about gaming, Steve Jobs was once genuinely excited about this game called Halo being released on the Mac. Until Bill Gates came riding in and stole it from under his nose ...

...but there is NO WAY that I should be compelled to believe what you believe.

There is no way you should believe Jobs has done something spectacular? I'd say going from being a college drop-out to an Apple CEO is quite impressive, but apparently I'm wrong? I don't know how my post stated any opinion at all in regards to his business practice, but at least you got to rant a bit. Your welcome.

Keep misreading what I'm saying Captain Reading Comprehension. I said that I shouldn't be forced to believe that what Steve Jobs has done is good, as if it were some sort of scientific fact. As a matter of opinion, it is up for debate. Of course, religious zealots take such pride in claiming that their opinions are facts, although I'm sure you're aware of that nifty little comparison.

What are you blathering about? It is a figure of speech. No one is compelling you to believe anything. Wow.

Re-watching the iPhone introduction keynote really underscores how advanced the device was at the time in comparison to the other "smartphones." Everything else felt like using stone knives and bear skins after that.

Re-watching the iPhone introduction keynote really underscores how advanced the device was at the time in comparison to the other "smartphones." Everything else felt like using stone knives and bear skins after that.

Endeavoring to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bear skins?

Contrary to the claims that Apple has never given two shits about gaming, Steve Jobs was once genuinely excited about this game called Halo being released on the Mac. Until Bill Gates came riding in and stole it from under his nose ...

"On June 19, 2000, soon after Halo's preview at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2000, Microsoft announced that it had acquired Bungie Software and that Bungie would become a part of the Microsoft Game Division under the name Bungie Studios. Halo would be developed as an exclusive title for the Xbox. The reasons for Bungie accepting Microsoft's offer were varied. Jones stated that "I don't remember the details exactly, it was all a blur. We'd been talking to people for years and years—before we even published Marathon, Activision made a serious offer. But the chance to work on Xbox—the chance to work with a company that took the games seriously. Before that we worried that we'd get bought by someone who just wanted Mac ports or didn't have a clue."

So the company that didn't give two shits about gaming lost its premier developer to a company that did.

What I have read on Halo was that Bungie asked Apple if they were going to buy them, and Jobs said no. Jobs then changed his mind and sent Schiller to work out a deal, but by then Bungie had gone to Microsoft. Not sure how much of it is true, but seems plausible. Jobs was a day late and a dollar short.

"Pirates of Silicon Valley" dramatises the early home computer years and covers such things as the creation of the Apple 2 and the Microsoft acquisition of DOS. It even touches on Jobs and Woz's Blue Boxes. Noah Wyle has Jobs down perfectly, but the guy playing Steve Balmer (John Di Maggio) is almost spookily good.

Robert Cringely's "Triumph of the Nerds". This is a three-part series that takes a more documentary-type look at the same period of time and includes several interview clips with Jobs, including his famous "Microsoft have no taste" line. There's some facinating stuff in there, such as how and why IBM entered the PC market ("we worked out it would take us 9 months to ship an empty box").

...but there is NO WAY that I should be compelled to believe what you believe.

There is no way you should believe Jobs has done something spectacular? I'd say going from being a college drop-out to an Apple CEO is quite impressive, but apparently I'm wrong? I don't know how my post stated any opinion at all in regards to his business practice, but at least you got to rant a bit. Your welcome.

Keep misreading what I'm saying Captain Reading Comprehension. I said that I shouldn't be forced to believe that what Steve Jobs has done is good, as if it were some sort of scientific fact. As a matter of opinion, it is up for debate. Of course, religious zealots take such pride in claiming that their opinions are facts, although I'm sure you're aware of that nifty little comparison.

You appear to be under the misapprehension that people are treating Steve Jobs as some sort of deity. Allow me to clarify for you: they're not.

He was, however, a remarkable person. There have been few people who have influenced the technology world as often as he (through Apple) did. He wasn't a nice guy, but he had a way of making people strive just that little bit harder. If he had a motto (which I doubt) it would be "Good enough isn't good enough".

You don't have to like him, but if you don't admire him just a bit then you're just blinding yourself through your bias. For what it's worth I'm not especially fond of Bill Gates, but I can admire what he (and through him, Microsoft) have achieved.

I'm getting really, really tired of all this relentless nonsense on the Ars boards. Steve Jobs was an extraordinary person by any measure you care to employ, and the ongoing fascination with his life and achievements (as well as his faults and his mistakes) is a perfectly sane and natural response to the passing of such a figure, especially when it's made bittersweet by the tragedy of an untimely death.

The canonization and mythologizing of "the crazy ones" -- the unusually bright lights in the starfield of civilization -- is a basic human trait that will be with us as long as people remain mortal and our memories of history are intact. Can't all of you respect that? Why do you have to cross the street to complain about something as basic and pure as our tributes to those who made a mark on the world in a way that the vast majority of us can only dream about? If you really can't find any sympathy or sentiment or respect within yourself, can you at least have the basic dignity and courtesy to keep quiet, rather than lashing out in such a tiresome, relentless way?

Jobs announces he found a bug, the crowd laughs.Jobs switches to a backup system because the primary one doesn't "just work", the crowd _cheers_!Jobs announces something he said last year was wrong, the crowd laughs.Jobs has to ask questions about something that is supposed to "just work", and the crowd laughs.

Steve Jobs says pretty much anything he wants, the crowd laughs with him or cheers. Reminds me of political party conventions: fill the audience with people who agree with you unconditionally, and you'll both look and feel good not matter what you say and do on stage.

What do you want them to do?

Boo, Rampage up there, drag him off and burn him at the stake?

Its nothing to do with any so called reality distortion field, you can watch the same bloopers elsewhere and see the same reaction.

I disagree, look at Bill and the Quake demo which doesn't load at the end of that video, eerie silence from the audience. Steve Jobs has somehow pre-conditioned the audience to laugh off any failures and that's his charisma

...but there is NO WAY that I should be compelled to believe what you believe.

There is no way you should believe Jobs has done something spectacular? I'd say going from being a college drop-out to an Apple CEO is quite impressive, but apparently I'm wrong? I don't know how my post stated any opinion at all in regards to his business practice, but at least you got to rant a bit. Your welcome.

Ozymandia5 is right, he said there's no way he should be compelled to share your opinion, not that your opinion was wrong. You're (presumably deliberately) misconstruing what he said. The worthiness of Jobs' accomplishments are not empirical facts, they're opinions, some people may admire him for his achievements in the consumer technology field and others may hold his success of no importance whatsoever (for the sake of disclosure, I'm somewhere in the middle). Neither is wrong, they're just opinions.

To state that you must consider him worthy of respect is fascist, we all have our personal definitions of what is considered worthwhile.

Whether you hate Apple/Jobs or not, you have to agree he has achieved something spectacular. Especially for about the last 5-6 years, at least in my experience, the world has gone from "Your PC is weird. Is it one of those Mac PCs?" to "My phone is dead. Do you know anyone who DOESN'T have an iPhone?".

If you don't have respect for Jobs, I'm sad to say it, but it's not him, it's you...

No, I don't "have to agree" with anything you have expressed above. This is not a debate over some factual piece of knowledge that has been scientifically tested. This is not an argument that the earth is 6000 years old when clearly the TRUTH is that it is much older.

This is an argument over whether or not a computer magnate's legacy should be influenced by his questionable business practices and personality towards his employees and customers. One can make a compelling argument for both sides, but there is NO WAY that I should be compelled to believe what you believe.

I think you're getting too caught up in your own feelings here. Sure, you don't have to like Apple, and you can claim that Sonsol likes Apple too much, but you come of as being contrarian for no good reason. I don't see a good reason for dismissing the currently most successful personal computer company and the one who practically started personal computers as having contributed nothing, and this not being a worthy feat. Even when Apple looked like it was about to fade away, the people who didn't like Apple but still knew it's history still respected it's contribution to getting PCs started.

What the hell is wrong with you? What have you ever done with your life, that you have to attack an entrepreneur who rose from obscurity to change entire industries and then died young? It's one of the great American stories. Where does your snide, hateful, condescending vitriol come from?

As I wrote above,

Jordan Orlando wrote:

I'm getting really, really tired of all this relentless nonsense on the Ars boards. Steve Jobs was an extraordinary person by any measure you care to employ, and the ongoing fascination with his life and achievements (as well as his faults and his mistakes) is a perfectly sane and natural response to the passing of such a figure, especially when it's made bittersweet by the tragedy of an untimely death.

The canonization and mythologizing of "the crazy ones" -- the unusually bright lights in the starfield of civilization -- is a basic human trait that will be with us as long as people remain mortal and our memories of history are intact. Can't all of you respect that? Why do you have to cross the street to complain about something as basic and pure as our tributes to those who made a mark on the world in a way that the vast majority of us can only dream about? If you really can't find any sympathy or sentiment or respect within yourself, can you at least have the basic dignity and courtesy to keep quiet, rather than lashing out in such a tiresome, relentless way?

Every Apple related story (or Apple competitor story) that comes out always leads to these silly arguments. The fact of the matter is this: Most (not all) everyone has an opinion on Apple. Whether good or bad; strong or complacent, it seems that people must bang heads.

I am not an Apple fanatic.

Nor am I an Apple hater.

I am not a Steve Jobs fanatic.

Nor am I a Steve Jobs hater.

The truth is that Apple and Steve jobs have had their touch on the technology world in a large way. Notice I say large and not AMAZING or TERRIBLE. That is the opinionated area. You can also not say that everything Apple or Steve Jobs has done is bad OR good. There is most definitely a mixture of the two all through their existence.

Do I think Apple products are the best? No. Do I think they are quality products? Yes. Do I think they are worth the price point? No (but that is just a mater of economics. Had I more money, I would most likely think so). Do I think Steve Jobs was the best mother-f-ing CEO in the world? No. Do I think he was the worst? Not by a long shot.

The point is there are people who think differently. They are entitled to an opinion. Does there opinion effect you? Probably not unless they are in control of what products you possess. There are those who would buy an Apple Product if were constructed with horse s***. There are those who would take horse s*** anyday over a an Apple product.

You can most definitely debate the merits of one brand/product/person, but don't think that just because you have an opinion, that it is the right one.

These comment threads are great to expand my 'ignore' list. While I certainly like a debate and will never ignore anyone with intelligent commentary even if it completely disagrees with my personal views, some people here simply aren't worth reading.

Why were these corporate dribble videos posted? They were not inspiring, other then the commencement speech that we have all seen before. You want some inspiration look at the introduction of the power mac g4, there was a keynote that took absolutely nothing and used the reality distortion ray to turn it exciting. I mean I guess for page views it doesn't matter but if you want to actually analyze why Jobs was so inspiring you need to look beyond internally developed newspeak.